Sangpur: Pureblood
by Marcusjackpot
Summary: Join Draco and his hilarious, brilliant OC entourage in this AU fic with all your favorite characters and a spirited dash of scientific merit, known as MEMTA. SB/OC, DM/HG and others.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Jelly Doughnuts

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches."

The room was icy cold, freezing. The flickering candle light was reflected against the dark scales of a snake that whipped, chaotic, throughout the room.

"Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies." The room was windowless, a dungeon. The Dark Lord sat in a stiff chair, alone save for one of his kneeling servants. His low-pitched voice was cold and dispassionate, but the words ignited a fire within his eyes.  
Bellatrix Lestrange did not answer. She wasn't supposed to answer. Cautiously she asked, "Surely there is more my Lord?"

"Yes of course there's more." His tone was pleasant, and Bellatrix flinched at his face. He shoved a nearby table over like a madman, strewing books all over the floor. "...And the Dark Lord knows not. And either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies." He recited the lines perfectly, hating each word that slipped from his pale lips. "I shall not be the one that dies. It shall be your duty to ensure that."

"My lord," Bellatrix said interrupting nervously for a moment. Voldemort spared her a moment's glance. She placed an old parchment in front of him. "I always carry out my duty." She bowed and left the room, her sharp heels crisply beating a staccato on the stone floor.

Voldemort looked down at the parchment and read it. A small sinister smile spread across his lips.

"If the pentagram of power is placed in the Dark Lord's hands he will be unstoppable…none shall be able to defeat him, not even the Chosen…the pentagram shall be formed when the One is of 10 and 6…when the powers of light and darkness are present…the four elements will be taken first…the fifth, the strongest, the One, will have his soul shattered and placed in the Dark Lord's hands…he is the Son of Light and Faith…for he has the power of the Dragons..." Voldemort smiled. So the crazy seer was right; it was a matter of time. And he had plenty of that. The seven were mere children now.

"Lord and Lady Richard Zaire accompanied by their sons Donovan and Albus Zaire." The crisp voice of the ghostly attendant rang through the cavernous ballroom. Two small boys trotted down the sweeping marble stair case under the sharp, disdainful eyes of their eminent parents.

Someone nearby muttered in boredom, "...two hours into this party and they're not bloody done introducing people!"

Blaize felt a small smile creep onto his face. Blaize Riven-Malfoy did not hate many things, but stuffy birthday parties in even stuffier ballrooms were not exactly his cup of tea.

The only reason that he'd been talked into going to the party was sitting right in front of him. Dessert.

Blaize thought about snagging a doughnut of each flavor from the dessert table. But then decided against it, _someone could be watching and think it was rather barbaric. _Blaize was rather tall and thin, he had dirty blonde hair and the trademark Malfoy silver eyes.

"Why don't you do us all a favor and nip them all?"An amused drawl interrupted, intercepting his train of thought.

"Hello, Draco." Blaize said cheerfully. He waved his wand and only three of the original twelve doughnuts remained. "I think I've narrowed it down since last time."

"Thank Merlin for that. It only took you what, three hours last time?" Draco snorted.

Blaize laughed and took a moment to glance at his friend. Draco's shirt was half open and his robes were completely disheveled. He saw Draco struggling with his cuffs. Blaize grinned, "It looks like you've been having a bit of fun."  
Draco rolled his eyes, "Took awhile to shake the bitch off."  
"Who was it this time?"  
Draco hesitated a moment, finally shrugging. "Wish I knew."

Heavy footsteps alerted them of the arrival of Walden Macnair. Macnair had been arrested at the Ministry of Magic along with the other Death Eaters earlier that summer. He had been in Azkaban a total of two days, after which he had been to every single event all summer long. Of course Lucius Malfoy had no such luck. Although he had managed to talk himself out of Azkaban easily, he only wound up in some rehab centre halfway across the world.

"Good evening boys," Macnair said, picking up a jelly doughnut.  
Draco somehow managed a polite "Good evening," followed by Blaize's "How are you sir?"  
"Fine, thank you."

Draco gritted his teeth. Y_ou shouldn't be_.

Macnair took a bite out of his doughnut just as Draco clenched his hands into fists inside his robes. Macnair's face was suddenly bright red - not only from the strawberry jelly that had exploded on him.

"Red's not your colour, sir," Draco said with wide-eyed innocence. Macnair scowled and stalked away as dignified as possible, probably to tell on Draco. He fell flat on his face, slipping on a jelly doughnut.  
Blaize bit his lip to keep from laughing. "Did you do that?"

Draco smirked. "It seems as though those jelly doughnuts have a mind of their own."  
After a final glimpse at Macnair's retreating back, Draco and Blaize began edging towards the door that led to the labyrinth of hallways in the Risqué manor.

"Let's go somewhere quiet," Draco snapped over the noise and loud music, "My head is killing me!"

"That's what happens when you drink half your weight in Mai Tais, Draco," Blaize reminded him. After taking a look at his cousin's face he quickly added, "But there's a lovely library near the drawing room."  
"That's what I thought you said," Draco hissed, pulling Blaize into a closet to avoid the reporters and photographers covering the birthday event. Much to Draco's relief there was no one in the corridors, except the occasional lovers. Blaize stepped forward to open the double oak doors of the library. Inside, standing in front of the fireplace were two people standing close together. The boy was leaning in… Draco pulled out his wand to activate the lighting charms. _Lumos. _

"Well look at this, what do we have here?" He sneered.

"What?" Blaize asked curiously, looking at his cousin. Draco closed his eyes in annoyance. "Oh right." Blaize chirped happily, clearing his throat.

"Looks like a couple of _lovebirds_!" Blaize cried in a mock-baby voice, the kind you would use on a puppy.

Yin and Artemis jerked apart. Yin's porcelain doll face had a rose flush sweeping across it, her almond eyes were wide. Artemis ran a hand through his long raven hair, a nervous gesture for him.

"Drayce, Blaize why...what are you doing here?" Artemis Kenda Fole asked as smoothly as he could with his two best friend's silver eyes on him. Blaize suppressed a giggle. A smirk that was running around Draco's head reached his lips.

"Does this mean you'll admit that you're soul mates now?" He asked sweetly, Yin Ming gave him a disgruntled glare, tossing her hair coldly. There was an awkward pause in which they all stared at each other. Artemis cleared his throat, "So...is anything important happening?"

"Well...someone lit themselves on fire. It was funny, the lead guitarist was like 'shit! You're on fire!' and threw the punch bowl at him." Blaize said smiling broadly. Artemis snorted clearly stating that he thought Blaize was immature. Draco frowned half way through a smile, confused. A dull pain has risen in his chest, causing him to loose his ability to follow the conversation. His breath stopped short as a spasm gripped him, and he vaguely heard Blaize's voice.  
"Voldemort's got all his cronies out; things aren't looking good for Memta right now. I mean we haven't even come close to infiltrating his inner circle. Or any circle! One of our directors is down, and Arty, your parents are getting suspicious. Draco, I don't think Auntie Narcissa is going to take that much longer to figure it—and us—out."

Yin and Artemis nodded. Yin turned her head and noticed Draco on his knees clutching the table for support. "Draco! Are you okay?" she asked him, waving her hand in his face.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" Draco asked calmly, leaning on the same table. This was the second time this summer this had happened, but no one knew except for him.

"I thought you were going to code on us," Artemis said, watching him with mild concern.

The group trooped back to the ballroom reluctantly, it would be an insult to the family if they didn't. Blaize made it a bit of a game counting all the couples, and people going into hangovers. Draco lingered in the tall arched doorway for a moment watching several purple and silver acrobats do flips across the air, he smiled. Yin shrieked suddenly catching his attention. A mime jumped back in suprise, Yin placed a gloved hand to her chest and burst out laughing.

"Oh my that gave me quite a start!" She said smoothing out the folds of her delicate silk robes, which were fresh off the Milanese fall haute-couture runway of Eleusian's wizardwear. The mime dramatically imitated her.

"He's so cute! Do you think Daddy would let me have him?" She asked Draco smiling broadly. Draco said nothing; it was not a question.

"Why on earth would you want a small black and white man?" Artemis asked bewildered.

"Artemis you have some competition." Blaize muttered amused. The mime turned towards him and Blaize inched away; he was terrified of any sort of mask or clown. Draco rolled his eyes and waved a dismissive hand; the mime bowed and skipped off. Across the ballroom Draco spotted Rem Risqué talking to several adults and noticed one elderly witch pinch his cheek. Hard.

"Should we rescue Rem?" Blaize asked Draco watching Rem attempting to be polite. Draco smirked and took achampange flukefrom a passing house elf. "And miss the fun?"

"Young man. Artemis, no?" A respectable looking gentleman shook hands with Artemis. Artemis smiled courteously, he turned to Draco clearly thinking: _who the hell is this?_

"I know your parents," Artemis stiffened and his steep cobalt eyes became icy. "How are they?"

"Fine. Yes, they're both fine. Thank you." Artemis said nonchalantly and calmly. The man smiled patronizingly and walked away; Artemis let his smile drop into a glare.

"Alright, I think I've had enough, shall we get our cloaks and leave?" Artemis said flatly. Draco was preoccupied rubbing his temples. Yin nodded her assent and Blaize openly yawned.

"Hey! Leaving so soon?" An annoyed voice asked. Draco turned and found himself looking into Rem Risqué's hazel eyes. Besides him was Zane Shan leaning heavily against an organza draped column.

"Hullo Rem, unless you give us something to do, yeah." Blaize said rudely, Artemis poked him in the ribs.

"Happy birthday, Rem!" Yin said loudly sufficiently drowning out Blaize's indignant "owww!"

"I'm sorry this sucked, we'll do something later okay?" Rem said lighting a joint. Draco laughed and caught Zane's unfocused eyes. Zane curtly nodded and threw up violently.

Artemis looked over, slightly concerned. "Zane...did you overdose _again_?"

He shook his head. "Can't." He sighed closing his eyes, the groups attention was focused on him. "Ever since my fu-sorry...my parents put me in rehab, I've been under this potion crap that makes my regurgitate any kind of toxic substances. This is withdrawal, apparently."

"I think you're doing great, Zane." Blaize said in a happily supportive tone. Zane glowered at him.

Draco cleared his throat, "I think tomorrow would be an excellent day for a Memta meeting."

The group stared at him in a startled way– it was rather bold of him to mention that in public.

"Why?" Rem asked looking around.

"Well... we're on the verge of an apocalypse," Blaize helpfully clearing up Rem's doubt.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Artemis retorted sarcastically.

"Don't mention it!" Blaize said cheerfully. Draco rolled his eyes.

"So, what are we going to do?" Yin asked bluntly, moving on.

"All we can," Draco said, in his usual drawl, "Memta meeting tomorrow."

Draco had slept well the night after the party. He stretched luxuriously; it had been a long time since he had gotten a decent amount of rest. The sun shone brightly in his face and he sighed. Another reason to hate summer: the early rising sun. Slipping out of bed, he ran a hand through his tousled hair and sat in a large, slightly worn chair that had been in the Malfoy Manor since the Elizabethan era. He twined his long, delicate fingers under his chin, going back to thoughts he had not visited in a while.

Father...

Draco rose in frustration- his thoughts on this subject always led him to the same phrase – _damn you, Harry Potter. _

He could hear his mother, Narcissa, pacing in the hallway. She was undoubtedly formulating a terrible speech on last night's antics with Macnair. She was never really upset; quite possibly she had in fact found it very amusing. But she would feel it her duty as a mother and a Malfoy to make a reprimand. Draco sighed, tilting his head to the back of his chair. There were always repercussions for a Malfoy.

But there was time for explanations later. He should probably take advantage of the fact that his mother was preoccupied for once, and get through to Yin. The Memta gang had all met up last night at the party.

Memta, or the Magically Enhanced Muggle Technology Academy was a secret society for research in both muggle and magical fields of science and technology. It was headed by his father, Lucius Malfoy, and two other directors: Blaize's mother, Aryana Malfoy Riven, and an ex-Auror, Ash Rai. Draco was always at odds with Ash; he didn't always trust her, despite her presence in his life. However, his father trusted her, so Draco abided by her rules. Most of the time.

Memta had several divisions. One of them was the Junior Division that was established when Draco was eight. Draco and his team were the first group of Junior Memta scholars. Draco scribbled a note hastily, and walked over to where his silver and black falcon stood proudly. Malifque would only obey Draco; anyone else who tried to get her to do anything would find himself or herself covered in claw marks and missing an eye. She waited for Draco's command, watching him with her steely eyes.

_Yin,  
Arrange a meeting for tomorrow night. I'll be quite occupied with some meaningless punishment today. I assume Blaize mentioned the Macnair affair; honestly, it's been blown out of proportion. It was quite amusing, naturally. Should anything else happen, owl me._

_A Demain,  
Draco_

"Draco?"  
_Damn._"One moment, mother." Draco hastily closed the window behind Malifque and draped a green blanket over himself. He opened the door to a curious looking Narcissa. Draco forced a smile. "Mother...good morning."

"Was that Malifque that you just sent out the window?"  
"No…why would I? It was warm last night I left the window open."

Narcissa visibly relaxed. "Good. I don't want you to post anything to anyone for another few weeks. You know how things are..." She was staring out the window, distracted, her eyes tearing; obviously thinking of Lucius.

Draco didn't know what to do. He wasn't good with emotional people. He had no clue how to comfort them. As a Malfoy wasn't expected to, of course. Instead, he cleared his throat.

Narcissa blinked, conscious of where she was again, and where her husband was. She inhaled, and let her breath out slowly. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror next to Draco's closet. "You know what I need, Draco? A haircut. Perhaps I'll get one. But never mind that." She cocked her head and smiled at him. "You're grounded."  
Draco groaned, it was as if someone had smacked him. He hadn't expected such a severe punishment.

"What are my limits? Until when? And…blast it Mother, _why_?" He was annoyed now. He couldn't be grounded! It would be a minimum of a week, and he needed to be at the Memta meeting tomorrow.

Narcissa held up two fingers on her right hand, and touched the tip of one with her left index finger. "Two reasons. Reason number one: because I said so. Reason number two: because your father would have said so. You can chose which reason you prefer to tell your friends."

Draco gritted his teeth. "Since WHEN do you punish me? I'm your favorite son! I'm your only son!"

Narcissa narrowed her eyes. "I guess that leaves us with 'because your father would have said so.'"

"FUCK!"

"Watch that tongue, boy!" Narcissa snapped. She turned, muttering "I can't believe I just said that...I sound old!"

With that she made her exit.

Draco was astonished. It was difficult for him to comprehend what had just taken place. One of his parents had actually punished him! Not that it mattered, of course. So his mother decided to actually be a mother; she had never said how long he was grounded. For all he knew she could have intended to ground him for two minutes. Or two weeks...

"Two minutes it is," Draco muttered under his breath. He smiled as he glanced out the window; watching a slightly swaying figure sluggishly getting out of a yellow viper sports car. Being grounded had never felt so good.

"Tomorrow night! He wants us to postpone it until tomorrow? We're already HERE! He must have Voldemort's arse for a head if he thinks for a moment..."

"That's quite enough, Blaize." Ash scolded. The small smile on her face softened the chastisement, and Blaize was grinning again.

"What should we do now?" Yin asked. She was already bored with the makeshift meeting.

Ash was the only director present, as Aryana no doubt was on a shopping spree and Lucius was, well, not present. Yin casually craned her neck to the other side of the room to look at Artemis. He was Memta's prodigy; his specialty was Physics. Next to Artemis was Zane Shan. He was the head of Espionage and Transfiguration for the Junior division. Rem Risqué was in charge of Culture and Arts. He, however, was probably getting wasted at some Muggle party; Rem was notorious for partying. And Draco was probably snuggled up in his bunny jimjams at home. Yin sighed. This wasn't working.

"I'm quite sure Draco's aware of our present predicament. He's usually a responsible boy, I'm sure he'll find a way to reach Healer Ming's home tonight." Ash said, thinking of how she could inform Draco of what was going on. Ash's plan was dependent on Draco. It was his talents she wanted to exploit. His division had the most impressive research work in Memta despite their age. Their consent was unimportant simply because she was in charge."Ash," Zane looked up suddenly alive, "What is our present predicament?" Zane's amethyst eyes were narrowed in suspicion.

Ash set her jaw. There were enough unanswered questions in her mind already. She didn't want to answer anyone else's. Instead, she said, "I don't want to explain anything before Draco and Rem arrive."  
Zane smirked. His eyes glanced at Artemis."We don't want to know everything," he said coolly to Ash, "just something."  
Artemis nodded, his lips twitching to prevent a sneer. "For example, do Aryana or Lucius know about it?"  
Ash slowly turned to stone, her expression impassive. She managed to grit out a "No."  
Yin closed her eyes dramatically. There was no point in questioning her any further. Ash had been almost emotionless since word from a little birdhad reached her that Sirius Black died. This surprised them, as they could not understand why she would be upset.

"_You were in love with that blood traitor?" Draco asked coolly, Ash gave him a slow impassive glare. He held a small cream colored scroll and pulled the silk ribbon. _

"_Ash Rai and Sirius Black request the pleasure of your presence as they join in marriage..." _

_Ash gave him a stony look, and looked at the pictures he threw at her with a cold smile. _

"_That's why you've been acting like this? Because of some lunatic murderer?" Draco asked, sneering at her openly. Ash looked at him, her eyes somber and unreadable. She drew her hand back and brought it to Draco's ivory cheek with such a force that Draco collapsed. His frail skin instantly bruised; Ash left the room without a word…_

The library door whooshed opened, cutting Yin's memories short. Draco stepped in shouldering a drunken Rem.

"Peace dudes," Rem hiccupped softly before crashing to the marble floor, taking his hippie garb and large purple sunglasses with him.  
Draco smiled. "It took Rem awhile to realize where the party was."  
Ash arched an eyebrow. "So you took it upon yourself to be his tour guide brought him to us. We are eternally grateful."  
Draco smirked. "You could have fooled me."  
Blaize laughed weakly. "Who cares? Now Ash can tell us what's happening."  
Ash smiled mysteriously. "Not yet."  
Zane stood up, surprised, and the others groaned in outrage.

Ash made a single gesture to quiet them all. "I want you all to continue your individual research. I will expect report updates periodically." She stood with her natural grace, daring anyone to comment. "That's an order."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: The Address

"She must have been joking... It was a joke right?" Blaize asked, puzzled over Ash's behavior.

"No," Zane replied curtly, "Jokes are funny."

"Oy, lover boy, I'm the one skiving my grounding, disobeying Her Majesty, My Mother, hitching a ride with the hippie, coming here, and finding out there was ABSOLUTELY nothing I needed to know." Draco snapped.

"You got grounded?" Artemis smirked and Draco shrugged.

"Who wants dinner at the Bubble room?" Yin asked pulling out a car-disk for her silver BMW Z5. A car disk is a small circular disk that stored cars. You simply pressed the car logo you wanted, dropped it on the floor and the next thing you saw was your zippy, very expensive car. Car disks were developed by Blaize's mother, Director Aryana. They were only one of the many inventions of Memta.

"Bubble R-Room? Sounds g-great, but why don't we go to Black Long's?" Rem  
asked yawning.

"Good evening Sleeping Beauty. Have a pleasant beauty nap?" Zane said, rolling his eyes.

"I know you think I'm pretty Zane." Rem said batting his eye lashes.

"Let's go to Black Long's." Draco interrupted, wanting to avoid a fluffy battle scene. "I'm starving."

"I think we should buddy up," Blaize said. "Yin and Arty can go together. Zane and Rem and Draco and I have a few-erm, things to take care of." Blaize smiled, winking at Rem and Draco. Zane shook his head and smirked in the safety of his bowed head.

"That's a great idea." Rem said sleepily, pulling out a disk for his convertible. Zane nastily snatched them away.

"I barely trust a muggle car, but there's no fucking way I trust you driving it!" Zane spat. Rem pretended to be mortified. They all burst out laughing, and Rem's mock anger soon subsided. Artemis held the door open for Yin, smiling slightly as they drove off. Zane gave Rem's viper a disgruntled look and sighed as Rem collapsed into  
the passenger seat.

"My car or yours?" Blaize asked Draco.

"Doesn't matter." Draco said; Blaize shrugged and pulled out his disk. Draco glanced at the red Ferrari and grinned. It was such a Blaize car.

"I cannot believe you got grounded, that's too funny!" Blaize said laughing.

"Keep your eyes on the road and shut up! Stupid crap muggle things..." Draco glared, but Blaize snorted , and the two began sharing what they had each done in the past year. Draco and Blaize were like brothers, they had never once kept a secret from each other. So Draco included every embarrassing moment of the previous school term. The conversation got them all the way to London's exclusive Asian fusion restaurant Black Long's. As predicted they had absolutely no problem getting their favorite table by the Zen garden. The waiter handed them the signature triangle menu, and they all pretended to look for a dish, but they already knew what they were going to order: The Dragon faerie's boat. It included possibly every variation of sushi known to man. And they were going to get a great-wall of chocolate to commemorate Rem's 16th birthday.

"Well, I had a shitty year, anyone else want to share their experiences?" Zane prompted, and they laughed.  
Everyone began chattering away, Draco picked at his lobster crêpes and baby spinach salad, occasionally smiling and nodding. He glanced over at the serene waterfall; a flash of black hair caught his eye.

"Raveyn!" He shouted, and she halted, her shoulders tensing slightly before she turned to face them.

"Draco, oh it's you." She said nervously, smiling slightly. Raveyn Saunders was a year younger than the crew.

"Hey Raveyn, I don't think I've seen you in over a year." Blaize said cheerfully

"Why don't you join us for dinner? There is plenty of room!" Rem added, causing Raveyn to glance around the table nervously again.

"The more the merrier!" Blaize added

"I'm sorry guys I really can't, I have to run." She said a bit fervently.

"Maybe next time then." Rem said kindly.

"Yes…next time" Raven said in a far away tone. Draco blinked. The Raveyn he knew was a hyper manic. She ran away rapidly as if something was chasing her.

"Did she strike anyone else as weird?" Draco asked popping a spicy tuna roll in his mouth

"A bit." Yin offered. Artemis and Zane looked troubled."She was probably late for a party, we aren't accidentally skipping any are  
we?" Blaize asked, immediately lightening the mood.

Draco glanced at his watch 1:30 am. He sighed running a hand through his silver blonde hair and down the cold wood of his front door. He was dead meat when he got inside. Perhaps his mother hadn't noticed? That was wishful thinking, she would have definitely noticed, unless there were thousands of aurors distracting her. He climbed up the ancient oak tree just outside his bedroom window. To his relief, his bedroom window was actually open. Lanai had probably noticed that he'd gone and left it open. His room was exactly the way he had left it. Organized chaos. Kicking off his shoes, Draco climbed into bed and promptly fell asleep. _A five point star…  
high laughter, echoing across a room. Who was that? Someone…so far away. _

"Master Draco!" A shrill voice whimpered. Draco pulled the covers over his head, what the hell was a house elf waking him up for? He was grateful, no doubt, the nightmare would've gotten worse, he knew, but the house elf couldn't have known that. They were too stupid. Unless they were on steroids? These thoughts chased themselves through his head, and he lay on his side, attempting to ignore the pleading voice next to him.

"Master Draco… please wake up…else missus will be very upset. Oh! Bad Lana! Bad! Bad! Ba-" Lana's "Bad!"s were cut off abruptly by a more authoritative voice.

"Master Draco, get up right now!" Of course, it was the diligent and loud Lanai, the head house elf of the Malfoy estate. Draco groaned and glanced at his watch, three o'clock. It was three bleeding o'clock.

"What the bloody hell Lanai?" Draco hissed , rubbing his eyes. He gasped; he was staring at three aurors, their silhouettes fell against the door impressively. Lanai had her arms crossed and was glaring openly at them, behind her missy, the younger elf was trying to hide. Draco had a fleeting thought: be careful what you wish for.

"You've got quite a mouth there youngster!" An older man chided, amused.

"Who the fuck are you, what do you want? IT'S 3 IN THE BLOODY MORNING!" Draco glared at them across the room.

"Trust me boy, we're quite aware of that fact."

"By order of the Minister of Magic you are to report downstairs immediately." A different auror with a deep voice said. Draco snorted and grabbed his cashmere throw trying to fall asleep again.

"I would recommend getting up kid." A woman's voice said impatiently.

"And I would recommend that you get the hell out of here." Draco replied curtly. And after eyeing her 'SAVE THE TREES!' shirt, he added.

"tree-hugger."

"Stubborn brat!" One of the men growled.

"Stupid wanker!" Draco countered; the man grabbed him and flung him over his shoulder like a rag doll.

"ARGH PUT ME DOWN!" Draco screamed, he could see the two aurors clearly as they stepped out into the hallway. One had pink hair, she had a tag on her 'SAVE THE TREES!' tank top that read TONKS, the other was an older man whose name tag read DAWLISH.

"LET ME GO, I WANT MY LAWYER! WHERE'S MY MUM?" Draco screamed. Damn the cool and calculated poise of The Malfoy's. He was tired and the buffoon swines in his room didn't seem to care.

"I AM COUNTING TO TEN, STARTING NOW. TEN, NINE, FIVE-"

"There's got to be an off switch!" Tonks groaned exasperately. They had been dragging Draco around his house for half an hour.

"I ORDER YOU TO PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT!" Draco screamed again, but the aurors completely ignored him.

"I'm tired. Leave me alone, what did I do?" Draco asked weakly. His voice was hoarse from screaming.

"You should have thought about that when you came home at 1:30." The auror holding him grunted.

"What, have you been stalking me?" Draco asked incredulously.

"Isn't that a little past your bed time kid-o?" Tonks asked mockingly.

"Shut up. At least I'm not a pink-haired poodle." He smirked at Tonks's astonished expression. "I demand that you comply with my wishes and drop me at this moment!" he said to the auror hold onto him.

"With pleasure." The auror holding him drawled, tossing him to the floor.

"Not like that! That HURT!" Draco cried indignantly from the floor, rubbing his arm.

"You'll live." Tonks growled, her eyes glinting dangerously.Draco ignored her. What in the Devil's name was he doing near the entrance foyer?

"I DEMAND to know the reason for your presence." Draco hissed, whirling around to face the aurors.

"That's for us to know." Dawlish told him. To Tonks he said, "I don't remember Fudge telling us that silencing a force loud as Howler was part of the deal." Tonks offered him a weak smile and shook her head.

"What are you doing here? Did the Minister run out of people to frame?" Draco spat cruelly.

"Listen to me, you drugged up, high headed prat of a child. If you don't shut up, I will—"

"You will what?" Narcissa asked coyly, descending the entrance steps. "Scream him to death? I was not aware that the Ministry had stooped so low as to not only wake young and innocent children up at this beastly hour, but to threaten them as well."

"We are under orders to evacuate this house, so it can be examined till further notice Ma'am." Tonks said, flustered.

"Yes, well, as long as you cannot legally justify your actions, they will not occur. If you leave immediately, I will assure you that word of this will not reach the Ministry." She bestowed a cool smile towards Dawlish and Kingsley. Draco could help but disgustedly notice that they were staring at his mother's bare legs.

"Well Ma'am-"

"Please, call me Narcissa." She corrected kindly.

"Well-erm, Narcissa, we have a written consent from the Minister of Magic himself." Dawlish said confidently.

"Ah, well, perhaps Cornelius has forgotten that it is not within his power to take control of properties in Wiltshire county because we are perfectly isolated from muggles, and are most definitely not murder suspects." Narcissa stopped. The jaws of each Auror seemed to be reaching the floor. She grinned. "I'm beginning to think that Cornelius finds me quite dim." Narcissa smiled her perfect hostess smile.

Kingsley came to his senses and said, "Perhaps we should wait for the Minister then?"

Narcissa nodded. "Would any of you care for a snack?"

The front doors burst open, and in strode Cornelius Fudge himself, flanked by several aurors.Narcissa pretended to be surprised. "Minister, you do seem to have impeccable timing. To what do I owe this honor?" Narcissa asked sweetly, her cool blue eyes pinning Fudge like daggers. Draco may have been exhausted, but confusion and curiosity quickly took over his other emotions.

"Don't even try to talk your way out of this Narcissa. To be frank, if you refuse to comply with my orders, I will personally send you to Azkaban and take your son away from you." The Minister said pompously.

"You have no legal grounds to make those kinds of orders, Fudge." Narcissa sneered.

"That's where you're wrong. I have a long list of your wrong-doings in my back pocket." Fudge said confidently.

"I see. And pray tell, what are these false accusations?" Narcissa asked, one eyebrow arched.

"Deatheater involvement is quite enough of an accusation." An Auror snapped.

"Is that so?" Narcissa turned her eyes from the Auror to Fudge. "Is this what it's come to save yourself Cornelius? That is what you are doing. There isn't a chance in hell for you to deny that." Narcissa said as smoothly as her rage would allow.

The Minister flushed. "Narcissa I really do not wish to arrest anyone, so please attempt to cooperate."

Narcissa was silent for a moment. "So then let me leave. I will leave the manor with you, on your word that everything will be just as I left it."

"Agreed." Fudge smiled triumphantly, just as an Auror stepped into the house.

"Sir, we found this boy lurking outside." The auror said, dragging the boy with him.

"I was not aware that 'lurking' and 'walking' were the same thing." A familiar voice snapped. Draco looked over the auror's shoulder and sure enough, Artemis Kenda Fole was glaring at the auror that was holding him. Draco shot his mother a quick look.

"He's mine. My nephew, under my custody." Narcissa told Fudge lying easily.

"Let him go." Fudge told the Aurors. To Narcissa he said, "I suppose you're taking your son and…nephew with you?"

"Of course, and some house elves." Narcissa said. Fudge glowered. "Narcissa, now be reasonable-" Narcissa did not say  
anything, just stared at Fudge blankly crossing her arms."Fine. Be prepared to leave your home at 5:00 o'clock. Some aurors will  
escort you to London where I will address you and others in your situation at the Ministry." Fudge said as he turned to leave.  
"Oh, and Cornelius?" Narcissa called to his retreating back. The Minister turned around impatiently. "I just wanted to let you know that you are wasting your time." Narcissa smiled and watched him stomp off.The aurors named Tonks and Kingsley stayed behind. Narcissa raised an eyebrow at them. They remained stone faced.

"LANAI?" Narcissa called.

"Yes my lady?" Lanai said from behind Draco.

"Get ready to leave, tell Kaori, Missy and Lena to pack and inform the rest of the elves of our situation. I expect everything to be kept in order during my absence. Also please get our guests a bite to eat." Lanai nodded, and Narcissa responded with, "Thank you, that will be all."

"Mother, you can't be serious?" Draco asked indecorously.

"Draco, please. Go pack everything you need. See if you can find some things for Artemis as well." Narcissa said with a sigh. Draco threw a glance at Artemis and stormed off towards his room. He threw himself onto his bed and screamed very loudly into a pillow. A vase shattered nearby. Artemis sat down in a chair, Draco noticed streaks of blood and that his robes were torn."I left. I can't stand my family anymore. They probably are burning every picture they have of me right now." Artemis said wearily in explanation "Oh, well that's just…great! Can anything else happen?" He seethed, "But at least you've got us. You know, my parents would adopt you in a second." Draco said pensively.

Artemis gave him a weak smile."Well I suppose we have to pack, right?" Draco said getting up and kicking a trunk open violently. With anger coursing through every bit of him, he began shoving things into the trunk. After the trunk was filled, Draco shrunk it until it could fit in his pocket. He then handed Artemis a t-shirt, jeans and a black robe. Artemis's eye shone with gratitude which made Draco feel remarkably better. After Artemis had changed they walked down to the library and grabbed as many dark arts books as they could and shoved them into a bag that quickly folded into a wallet. The whole entire house seemed very much alive at the desolate hour of 4:30; the very walls seemed to be holding news of what had happened. The paintings were all gossiping, house elves were scurrying back and forth carrying clothes, equipment, books. Draco had always found it interesting that the house seemed to have its own mind. Narcissa was speaking to Aryana Riven over a K-line. A K-line was the Memta's version of a cell phone it was built on several runic formulas, created by Cassius Malfoy, Draco's late grandfather.

"How did Blaize take it, Ary?" Narcissa asked cautiously.

"Goodness…he didn't-. Please, just listen to this." Aryana's face shifted to the side of the screen, and Blaize was vaguely in focus, followed by a furious roar. "I WANT MY FUCKING ROOM BACK YOU BLOODY WANKERS! WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS FUCKING GOING ON? NOOOOOO, WAHHHH AAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH! MY ROOM! WHAT'RE YOU DOING TO MY ROOM…MUTHER!" Blazie was sobbing uncontrollably, all fake tears, of course, but some of the aurors beside him, were covering their ears with pillows. All of the aurors were swearing under their breath. Aryana came back into focus.

"That should give you an idea of what I've been listening to since three."

"I think Draco was too shocked to speak, but he's handling it quite well. Artemis, poor dear, is handling it very maturely like always."

"Where are you going to go? I certainly refuse to stay in this country with that madman and a Dark Lord running amuck." Aryana said.

"I'm heading to the Muggle states. Do you remember the summer house my father bought for my mother in the Caribbean?" Narcissa smiled, reminiscing.

"How can I forget? The one in Key West?" Aryana asked.

"The very same. I'm fully prepared to be away from the chaos, and stress, and get that tan that I haven't gotten since I got married, and wear those outfits that have been in the back of my closet since I had Draco." She smirked mischievously.

Aryana laughed. "The good times. When we had more boys lined up, willing to do us favors than the number of Chocolate Frogs Blaize eats every month..."

"MUTHER- DON'T YOU CARE? LOOK, SEE WHAT THE MONSTERS ARE DOING TO ME? OF COURSE IT'S BLOOD, YOU FOUL MONSTER! WAHHH, MUH-HUH-THER!" Blaize screamed from behind Aryana.  
Aryana sighed."A wonderful welcome back to reality. I suppose I'll see you at this 'meeting' to snicker at Fudge's pig-sty attempt at a speech." Aryana gave Narcissa a quick smile and disabled the connection by pulling out it's magical core.

"Ignorance is bliss, that shall be my new motto. So please, mother, I do not want to know." Draco said as his mother turned to him.

Narcissa grinned wickedly."Know about what? The house in Key West or the boys?" Narcissa asked innocently. Draco glared.  
"I'd hate to interrupt Ma'am, but we should probably get going." Kingsley interrupted loudly, leading them out of the house.Artemis sighed.  
"No one should be so willing to be bored to death," he mumbled, lifting his bag and following the Aurors out.

"And furthermore, I would just like to reiterate how important your past contributions have been to our cause…" Cornelius Fudge stood in front of his desk, speaking to a disinterested audience.

"He loves hearing his own voice, doesn't he?" Narcissa whispered to Aryana. She smirked. Narcissa looked around the room. She furrowed her brow.  
"Aryana, where the hell is Ash?"Aryana craned her neck over the other purebloods in the room.  
"No idea. Don't worry, she'll be here."Narcissa shrugged. "I know. I just wish I could've skipped this part of the speech with her."

"Albus Dumbledore." Dumbledore looked up from the chairs and smiled. He motioned to one of the chairs in front of him.

"I was not anticipating your arrival."The woman across from him said nothing. The hood of her cloak covered most of her pale face, showing only her smirking deep crimson lips.

"You don't mind that I did?"

"Not at all. I've always adored company, you know that as well as anyone. What brings you here?" Dumbledore asked after a pause. The woman delicately placed a scroll in front of him. Dumbledore untied the black ribbon holding it together and read it quickly.

He smiled."For you, yes.""You have my gratitude." The woman said, smiling back.He waved away her thanks.  
"It is my honor."The woman bowed. She stood up and glanced at her surroundings. "I remember this place well."

"As you should. Grimmauld has always held a special place in your heart." She tilted her face towards Dumbledore, her eyes cast to the marble floor.

"That it has. I take your leave professor."

"You have it. Until we meet again." The woman nodded, the ring on her necklace catching the light and the curious eyes of a raven haired boy with a lightning bolt shaped scar.

"And how well do my fellow musketeers fare?" Ash said, causing Narcissa and Aryana to jump.

"Terrible. Where were you?" Narcissa demanded. Ash put a finger to her lips and tossed her head in the direction of Fudge. Aryana and Narcissa rolled their eyes but quieted down.

"And in conclusion, I would like to reiterate just how very important your past contributions have been to my order."

"For Quidditch's sake, you've only said that three hundred and one times!" a voice from the back of the room said.Fudge glared menacingly in that direction and then cleared his throat.

"As for your current situation-"

"FINALLY!" the same voice said gratefully. Fudge glared again."As I was saying, your current situation is a bit complicated…"

"Only because you made it so." Fudge's face became red with glaring and he finally shouted, "DRACO MALFOY, WILL YOU SHUT UP THIS INSTANT?!" Fudge took several deep breaths. "Thank you.

"Now, to get out of this pickle that I did not create, all pureblood families will stay in one muggle state, no more than one family per state." Fudge halted, and this time no voice called out from the back. "All of your possessions will be carefully reviewed by the ministry and-"

"Have you gone completely mad?" This time the voice belonged to Artemis's father, who had just walked in. His glance landed briefly on Artemis, who looked away quickly, in an embarrassed fashion.

"Muggle nations? This is absurd. I will not comply with this… this… complete overlook of decency."

Narcissa looked curiously at William Fole."Well isn't that tragic William? That they're putting us with Muggles?" Narcissa asked.

"Yes, why, yes it is!"

"It is, isn't it? Because you deserve to be put with rats," she hissed and looked away from the dumbstruck William to Fudge. "My family and I will be staying in Key West, Minister. It would be appreciated if you could make a note of that."

"Yes, erm, yes, I suppose I could..." he started stuttering, and Narcissa walked out of the room, catching glimples of hostile faces and winks from Ash and Aryana. Her business here was done."Rats?" Draco sputtered as Narcissa pulled out her car disk, "Rats? You should have said asparagaus. Some people actually like rats," he said, thinking of Neville Longbottom who reminded him of one. "But no one likes asparagaus."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Welcome to the Caribbean!

Draco sighed as he paced a London hotel room. Things had been complicated when Lucius had been sent to the New Zealand Rehabilitation Centre, but things had gotten comparatively worse. His mother had been a sobbing sod for a few days, but at least she had been sane. It seemed as though she was going out of her way to prove that she wasn't. He had also had the Memta crew to cheer him up-they would no longer be of any consolation.

He ruffled his hair as he put on his Malfoy family robes and jeans. He and his mother would soon be meeting the rest of the Memta group at the Bubble Room. That was, of course, if his mother planned on waking from her "beauty sleep." An annoyed shriek from across the house assured him that she had. He sat down on the bed, not bothering to wear socks, and slipped his feet into ill-fitting loafers as his mother swept into the room.

The Bubble Room was an elegant, strictly old money restaurant. Its name had originated from the thousands of bubbles that lay underneath the glass floor. Draco admitted the décor was nice, but the menu had far too many choices for his liking. Add the fact that they changed with the cook's temperament, and one could see why Draco had a strong disliking for the restaurant.

This ordeal presented itself every time he entered the case was no different this time.

"Mother, I cannot decide what to order." Draco said, and scowled as the Piccioni glassato changed into something he couldn't pronounce, and he did not eat anything he could not pronounce.

"So not everything's changed," she said for his ears only. Draco only shrugged at her annoyance.

Draco had began counting the bubbles underneath the crystal floor just as Jacques, a friendly waiter pulled a chair out next to him.

"Somezing to keep you happy, mm?" he said, winking and gave Draco a sugar quill. Draco smiled gratefully and turned to the female who had just sat next to him.

"How did the packing go?" Draco asked Yin, and Arty, who had stolen a seat next to her. He smirked when he saw Yin blush and Artemis shove a hand through his hair.

"Quite well, thank you. Mother and Father were not home, apparently. Well, at least not physically." The last statement was made in a whisper, and Draco tilted his head pensively.

"So they did it, did they? They kicked you out."

"Not directly," Artemis said flatly. "They just let me see my own funeral plans."

Draco's eyes widened, but their conversation ceased as Blaize, Rem and Zane joined them.

"Good evening." Artemis muttered graciously.

His greeting received a nod, a hyper "Hello!" and a smile.

After he was seated, Blaize turned to the menu. Finding nothing that pleased him, he said to the waiter, "Would you happen to have fish that doesn't taste quite so much like…well, fish?"

The waiter gave him an 'are-you-kidding-me look', but to no avail. It was blissful to be as ignorant as Blaize.

"No."

"No? Well then, I suppose some pate and a salad couldn't hurt."

The waiter looked bored. "Is that all?"

"Yes." Blaize replied reassuringly, but as the waiter walked away, Blaize began scrutinizing the menu again, and called the waiter back.

"Oh bloody hell," Draco mumbled. "Here we go again."

Blaize changed his orders six times, and would have done so again, if Aryana hadn't told him to keep quiet or lose his car disk for a month.

The rest of the evening passed silently, save for the occasional sniveling 'the steak would have tasted better.' remark from Blaize.

Narcissa finally broke the stillness. "Perhaps it is time to say our final good-byes."

Blaize howled in reply, but otherwise her statement was not argued with. Narcissa stood up, smiling.

"Well then, I hope we shall see all of you very soon." She continued to smile, lifting her purse and motioning for Draco and Artemis to rise.

"Good night." Draco said to all, giving a small wave to Yin and Blaize.

Ash took a final swig of her champagne and followed the Malfoy's out, sauntering to each friend, giving them a peck on the cheek and wishes for a pleasant summer. She hadn't told anyone where she was going, and Narcissa said that she was probably staying here, keeping an eye on the other aurors.

The group slowly dispersed. The Ming's headed to France, Blaize and Aryana were going to Italy, and Zane bluntly told them he was going back to his rehab center in New York. Rem was going there, too. 'Only place you can really peace out, dude!' had been his exact words.

After leaving the Bubble Room, Narcissa led Artemis and Draco to a nearby Floo station. Draco eyed the station with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion.

Artemis finally asked for both of them, "What is it?"

Narcissa smiled. "A Floo Powder station, silly."

"And that is?" Draco prompted.

"Our means of transportation."

"To?"

She ignored the last question. "Come on; hold onto my hands you two!" Artemis held. Draco clung.

A strong pull, much like the one experienced in a portkey took them over, and Artemis and Draco landed in a heap on the sandy ground. Narcissa looked on with a glint of amusement in her blue-grey eyes. She had, of course, landed perfectly standing.

Draco hacked out sand from his mouth and wiped it with the back of his hand. He stood up, followed by an apprehensive Artemis.

"Where are we?"

Narcissa grinned. "Welcome to the Caribbean boys."

The Caribbean turned out to be Heaven.

For Narcissa.

She had rented a small speedboat and driven them to a port town. Draco nearly had a heart attack, and Artemis didn't open his mouth, afraid of what would come out if he did.

"She's mad, completely insane." Draco thought furiously. They'd been shopping all day. She'd bought seven bikinis-a fact that scared him more than the fact that she could drive a speed boat. She had also insisted on buying him and Arty at least six bathing suits each, with matching sunglasses from something named Dolce&Gabbana.

And the worst came when they entered a surfing store. The clerk there looked around twenty and seemed repulsively obsessed with his mother, and it didn't help when she practically bought the entire store.

"So let's see…" she muttered to herself. "We've already bought swimwear, snorkels, windsurfers, catamarans, a sail boat, water skis and kayaks."

Draco snorted. "You forgot everything else in Key West."

Narcissa pouted. "Now Draco, that's no way to be grateful!"

"For the years of arthritis you're going to cause me? Oh yes, I'm eternally gratefully for that."

Narcissa rolled her eyes. "You are so dramatic."

Draco's mouth dropped open. "I'm dramatic? Look at you! You practically laughed yourself into that guy's pants."

Artemis coughed, obviously uncomfortable by watching so intimate an argument.

Narcissa smiled at him. "Oh, Arty! I'm ever so sorry for keeping you waiting. If Draco hadn't begun this trifle little debate…"

Draco's hands flew in the air. "If Draco hadn't begun this trifle debate... Ha. At least I'm sane."

Narcissa whipped around, her eyes darkening. "That's enough."

He swallowed. Artemis looked away, and nudged him to follow Narcissa to the speed boat.

Narcissa unceremoniously threw their hundred bags of items into the back of the boat, and then they were off.

They landed at the docks of some pristine beach, with crystal clear water and white sand.

Draco smirked and Artemis whistled. Narcissa threw them a devilish grin.

"Welcome to Casa Negra. What do you think?"

"Quite lovely, actually. Seems somewhat like Bora Bora but Spanish." Artemis said with genuine praise.

Draco sniffed and looked away. "Whatever."

Narcissa was in too good a mood to notice his displeasure. She headed toward the villa, and Artemis pushed Draco in front of him. He smiled at Draco's scowl as if to say, 'she's your crazy mum, mate.'

"And you are sure of this?" Voldemort asked, eyeing the young man before him.

"Quite sure, My Lord of Supreme Darkness." He said eagerly. Voldemort ignored the praise and said to Bellatrix, "Bring her in."

Bellatrix opened the majestic doors to a dementor holding a whimpering teenage girl.

Voldemort's thin lips spread into a cat like grin. "Why hello, child. Tell me, what do you know of a boy named Draco Malfoy?"

"Ha!" Artemis declared. "You look like a lobster."

"Is that so? Well it's better than looking like a green tomato!" Draco retorted fiercely. The first week in Casa Negra had left marks on both boys. The frequent trips in the speed boat always left Artemis slightly green, and the hot sun had not been kind to Draco's perfect white skin.

Artemis shrugged at his remark and continued to swing lazily from his hammock. Draco looked critically at his sand-castle and added some more water to his mixture of sand and H2O. He looked back at Artemis. "You could help a little, you know."

"Sure, if I knew precisely what it was you were doing."

"Making a sand castle you dolt!" He patted the castle affectionately. "Quite a good one at that,"

Artemis raised an eyebrow. "Castle? It looks more like a camel to me."

"Camel? How?"

"Well, I thought that was what the lump represented."

Draco's retort was cut off by the beeping of his K-Line and a cool female voice.

"Yin Ming. Location: France. Time of K-Line message arrival: 3:15 p.m. Message status: Urgent."

Draco opened the K-line and quickly turned down its volume; Yin was apparently at a club.

"Bonjour Drayce! Bonjour Arty!" Yin said laughing.

"Bonjour." Draco and Artemis repeated.

"Comment ca va?" She asked.

"Your message said urgent, Yin. That does not mean you are to humor me by speaking French. You know for a fact I am fluent in more than twenty-five languages, French being–"

Draco's boasting was cut short by the appearance of Autumn, a close friend of Yin's and Draco's, she being the French Minister's Daughter.

"Bonjour, Bonjour! My, my, you two are looking how all those American's say…cute?" She looked at Yin, who nodded, giggling. "Ah, oui! Très cute."

Artemis raised a dark eyebrow. He did not appreciate being called "cute", even if it was a beautiful brunette saying it.

"Aux les toilettes" Yin waved to Autumn, and hurried into a nearby restroom, failing to notice that it said "Men" on the door. Artemis tried to call this to her attention, but Draco silenced him with a smirk.

"Have you heard the news?" Yin asked, calmly after placing a Silencing spell on the bathroom stall.

"That my mother's insane? Please Yin, that's getting old."

"No. No, not that. Here, look at this." She put a newspaper clipping in front of the K-Line screen.

Raven Saunders-Kidnapped, the headline read. Draco's eyebrows furrowed with perplexity.

"This is news. How long's it been?" Artemis asked.

"Three days. But there's more." She bit her lip, a sad look crossing her face. "Drayce…Teddy's dead."

Draco looked at her in alarm. "What?"

"I don't want to say it again. Here." She shoved another article in front of the K-Line. Theodore Nott, Found Dead on Ministry Steps.

Draco stared at the headline, anger and hatred swelling fiercely in his chest. He gritted his teeth to clamp down on the trail of words that would have surely caught his mother's attention. "We should have known about this. He did it. This exactly the kind of thing that monster would do."

Yin nodded. "I know." She smiled wryly. "But at least it gives us something to think about," she looked at the stall door, and the swishing of people entering and leaving. "I've got to go. Have a good evening."

Draco nodded. "See you at school tomorrow."

Yin smiled again. "Yes. Good night Artemis."

"Good night." he said. Draco waited a moment and then quickly shut off the K-Line after hearing Yin's squeal of horror. She had, no doubt, found out that she was in the men's restroom, without any warning from Arty or him.

Artemis gave Draco a lopsided grin. "You're going to get hell for that, Malfoy."

Draco smirked, and crossed his elbow under his head, lying down in the warm sand. "Yes, Fole, I will. But it'll have been worth it."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: A Secret Revealed

Harry had gotten into the habit of wandering around after curfew, it just helped clear his clouded mind a bit. Besides it's not like sleeping was going to help him much. He just let his feet guide him under his invisibility cloak, like some kind of phantom. Since last year, he was beginning to feel like a wall was between him and every other person. He couldn't pretend to be interested in school work, when Voldemort and his minions were running amuck. Basically this had resulted with him having a very sarcastic short temper, and it did however fuel his desire to become the best in defense against the dark arts. He liked the new teacher, he had felt like he had met her before, but couldn't quite place her. Footfalls in front of him made him stop, it sounded like two people talking. He quickly stood behind a statue and looked around.  
Professor Snape looked as sour as always as he swept up the corridor in his signature black robes, behind him was a smirking Professor Rai. Harry was instantly intrigued, 'what were they wandering around together alone for at this hour?'  
"Honestly Severus, I don't what could possibly be important at this hour. If I look horrible tomorrow I'm blaming it on you." Professor Rai said mockingly, tossing her long black hair over her shoulder. She was in purple and green sheer lingerie with a black satin kimono tossed over her carelessly. A bit to exposed for a teacher. Without warning Professor Snape shoved her against the wall, he was shorter than her, but looked physically stronger. She smiled calmly and arched back against the wall, as if trying to get confortable.  
"I want to know what you're doing here Rai." Snape snarled.  
"Whatever do you mean Severus?" She asked innocently, he pressed up against her.

"You know perfectly well what I mean, Ash."  
"My Severus and here I thought you weren't interested in women, per say." She said icily.  
"I'm not very much interested in anyone." Snape said coolly, stepping back from her. She smiled and reversed the situation, now Snape was the one pinned to the wall. He stared back at her with his empty eyes.  
"I guess being a Deatheater does that to you huh?" Ash said, jamming her knee into Snape's stomach, while using his shoulders to balance herself.  
"I'm not a Deatheater, and you can stop with the whore tricks they won't work on me." Snape said even colder than before. Ash didn't move. "They worked so well on so many of your little friends. You can lie to whoever you want Snivelus, you saw the fold, you killed a few people for it, you begged for mercy when you screwed up, and you kissed his robes. In my book that makes you a Deatheater."  
"My, my what a bleak out look, I suppose you include yourself as a Deatheater then. And so many of your 'friends' as well?" Snape smirked, Ash looked angry. She leaned in, making her knee dig in further to Snape's stomach. She was gratified by a slight breath of pain.  
"I never took the mark, I saw what it did to my parents and I didn't take it. Ever." She hissed.  
"No but you were as much a heartless murder as anyone else, perhaps that's why he left you?" Snape said sleekly. Ash hit him hard across the face, and stepped back shaking furiously. Snape seemed to have the upper hand, and he was playing it well.  
"Is that why you quit being an auror? You realized you turned into a monster, you realized that everything you had been fighting was in you all along." Ash paled considerably.  
"And now you're teaching here, and I know you; you never ever did anything without a higher purpose. What are you planning on doing, Rai? Maybe you want a second chance? I've seen you favoring the Gryffindor's a bit, compensating for past sins are we?"  
"You have no idea what your talking about, Snape."  
"I'll be watching you Ash Rai, you can be sure of that." Snape said in a menacingly low voice. With a nod he disappeared. Ash stood for a moment, in a trance, touching the strokes on a nearby painting.

"_I can't do it, I can't do it!" _

"_You have to Ash!"_

"_Sirius, I can't! Shit, I just can't!"_

_He wrapped her tightly in an embrace and for a moment her head cleared and she inhaled something other than the mist and the tense atmosphere._

"_I know you don't want to. None of us do, but it's all we can do now, or be killed ourselves. I would rather die a thousand deaths than kill another human being Ash, and I know you'd do that too. But we have a future together. And _that's _why we can. For that future, we can do anything."_

_She looked up at him and his dark eyes were so sincere. She saw a deatheater coming towards him and the only thought running through her mind was waking up the next morning with him at her side. _

"_Aveda Kadaver!"_  
"I never killed unless I had to." She said softly to herself, and then she walked stopping in front of Harry. She glanced hard at the spot where he was, he could have sworn she was making direct eye contact with him. Harry was frozen with fear; he tried not to breath. The Professor shook her head, and swept away. Harry waited for several moment and ran back the common room, making a note to tell Hermione and Ron first thing in the morning.


	5. Chapter 5

School Bell Rings

**School Bell Rings**

"Did you hear something?" Harry Potter asked in an annoyed tone, Hermione, Ron, and himself had all gotten on the train and his head hurt badly.

"Nope," Ron said blankly with a yawn, Hermione shrugged and kept reading their new Defense Against the Dark Arts book called _The Craft_. The compartment door slid open; leaning against the frame of the door was a very smug looking Draco Malfoy.

"GET OUT MALFOY!" Harry roared dangerously. Draco didn't look fazed at all.

"Easy Potter, you may give yourself a heart attack," he drawled with mock concern.

"What do you want Malfoy?" Hermione asked testily.

Draco turned his cool gaze to Hermione. "Just to say hello and wish you luck for this coming term," he said innocently with his curling smirk.

Ron frowned, taken aback. "Good, now you can skip off."

Draco smirked "Sure why not." He paused at the door and turned to Harry. "Oh, one last thing I wanted to offer my condolences for your Godfather whom you so stupidly killed."

There was a sudden wave of fury; it was like a nuclear warhead being set off.

"I'm serious Malfoy get the fuck out of here before I blow you to pieces," Harry said in measured tones, his deep green eyes flashed with the utmost extreme of hatred humanly possible.

Draco's pent up rage echoed back through his body, but he continued to smirk. A Malfoy was always in perfect control.

"You don't even have your bodyguards to jump in front of you, why anyone would bother is beyond me." Hermione hissed.

Draco coolly crossed his arms. "My what?" he repeated in a casually polite voice, his presence was causing way too much misery to pass up. After all he was never too busy to enjoy someone else's misery.

"Crabbe and Goyle, they should just be called gorilla one and two," Ron sneered.

"Oh them. They're probably getting initiated, learning how to aim a good Unforgivable. I daresay the Dark Lord has lowered his standards." Draco yawned. He was met with a cold silence followed by Weasley's annoying voice.

"WHAT?"

"Oh my, I've said way too much," Draco said in what would be a horrified tone had he not been sneering. As he turned to leave he could practically see the wands pointing at his back. Without turning he drawled, "I thought attacking someone behind their back was beneath you noble Gryffindors." He braced himself for a hex and sharply jerked his head to the left. Three jets of light all whizzed past his ear, and shattered the glass of the window in front of him. "Nice try," he said smoothly and walked away.

"Wonder who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is?" Morag MacDougal a Slytherin 6th year in Draco's class, asked curiously, her boyfriend Carter Percival was resting his chin on her shoulder.

Draco sighed and snapped, "Who cares."

Yin smirked and Morag yawned, "Are they done sorting yet? I swear it just goes on and on."

"Very much like your mouth," Draco muttered. A bolt of lightning flashed across the bewitched ceiling of the Great hall. Dumbledore got up to give his usual messages. Carter was reciting every word. Yin rolled her eyes, and looked around the table.

"Where is everyone?" she asked frowning. The Slytherin table seemed to have dropped by at least half of its normal population.

"Out to be Death Eaters." Carter said scathingly. Just then the doors of the Great Hall swung open and a cloaked figure strode in walking up to the head table like a cat.

"Ah, unless I am mistaken I do believe this is our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." Dumbledore announced. The figure removed their cloak to reveal a tall raven-haired woman.

Draco felt his heart freeze he chocked on his water, besides him Yin froze.

"Everyone let's please welcome Professor Rai," Dumbledore said in his cheerful voice and there was a chorus of applause. Many boys' heads were gazing dreamily at Professor Rai, but Draco wasn't one of them.

"What the bloody hell is this?" he demanded, trying to catch Ash Rai's eyes. She was sitting besides Professor Snape who was glaring at her in a combination of loathing and longing. Professor McGonagall smiled at her, a rare moment in history.

"On that note let's begin the feast," Dumbledore said with a warm smile, food began to appear. Carter immediately went for the salted ham. Draco was still trying to catch Ash's eye.

Yin tapped him. "Eat."

Draco looked down at the food in front of him and sniffed disdainfully. Yin sighed and whispered, "We'll talk to Ash later."

"Damn straight we will," Draco snapped.

Yin walked into the classroom casually unnoticed by anyone, save for Draco and to her misfortune, Tas, a really annoying and slightly dim Slytherin girl. Tas waved wildly for Yin to sit next to her and Daphne Greengrass. Yin shrugged in Draco's general direction and sat next to Tas, Draco gave her a bit of a sulky pout, making him look ridiculously young.

"Isn't it exciting? A new Defense teacher…" Tas squealed with delight.

Yin groaned silently. "Oh, yes. Who would have thought? We've only been having new Dark Arts teachers for the past five years."

Before Tas could decide if she had been insulted or not, Yin said to her. "Quit holding your breath-she can smell fear." Daphne snorted and winked.

Draco listened idly to the rumors flying around the room.

"I heard she was a rouge Auror. She killed like 50 Death Eaters," some Gryffindor said excitedly.

Draco snorted and noticed the cackling nervous energy in the room.

All the students looked apprehensive and fearful. Yin and Draco were the only ones not fidgeting in their chairs or death gripping their wands. Their fear was rightfully placed Draco mused. Ash's first impression was not one to put her future students at ease. She was the personification of unpredictability; she could slit your throat as easily as she could befriend you.

Before he could further contemplate Ash's mysterious personality, the double oak doors sung open, and Ash strode in with her jet black hair gleaming and piercing light green eyes sparkling darkly. Draco groaned. She was smiling mischievously.

"Good morning class."

Silence. Ash laughed openly now. To easy, she thought striding to the front of the room to her desk. She took role call fixing each student with her penetrating stare.

"Please put your wands away and open to the page 29," she said sweetly.

Draco arched an eyebrow. With a grumble of annoyance wands were shoved back into bags and textbook pages crinkled.

"_Avada Kadavra_." Neville Longbottom was blown across the room and crumpled to the ground. The class broke out into a severe screaming fit; there was a mass hysteria while people scrambled for their wands. Draco's laughter was muffled by the chaos. Suddenly Neville sat up. The entire class froze in shock. Ash smiled.

Neville patted himself down. "I'm…I'm not dead!" Ash pouted, "Not dead? I must be losing my touch."

She motioned for Neville to take his seat, reclaimed her space in front of the class. Some looked at her in fascination, others with trembling fear.

"Rule number one: Never put away your wand. You'll be slim pickings for a Dark Art's practitioner." She paused and asked, "Does anyone wish to attempt to explain why Neville isn't dead?"

Draco raised his hand.

"Yes?"

"Maybe you really are losing your touch?" Draco offered helpfully. Harry Potter shot Draco a quick scanning look.

"Ha ha! Cute Draco. Untrue, but cute. Next?" The class remained silent. Ash's eyes searched the room before continuing. "Quite simply: because I didn't wish for it to work. The first thing you should know when looking at the Dark Arts is that you need to feel them."  
She walked over to the chalkboard the class looked uneasily around as if searching for some comfort. Suddenly the noise of nails on the chalkboard rang shrilly throughout the classroom. Several students twitched, clapping their hands over their ears.

"That seems to have acquired your attention. Now I have a little test for all of you." Seeing the apprehensive looks on her student's faces she added "A written test. All you have to do is think about the answers and they will appear on the paper." She began to pass out papers. When she reached Draco she smirked and said, "Play nice."

Draco flipped through the test. Five pages, piece of cake. He noticed that next to his name Ash had taken the liberty of filling out his birthday and parents name and other personal information.

"No one worry about grades, this is just for me to see where you all…stand. Apparently your education in this subject had been very fragmented," Ash said rather bluntly to the fearful faces, which looked as if they thought the test might attack them. Draco personally thought she was a sadist who enjoyed the fear she was causing. When Draco looked down to start the test he noticed, horrified, that his thought had been scribbled down in the margin.

'_Okay question number one: If someone wanted to make someone else suffer what curse would they be likely to use and why?_' Draco frowned and moved on to the next question. '_What are your views on house elves?_' How typical of you, philosophical questions that have no answer, he thought. Draco looked up Ash had been watching him but she looked away pretending not to. Draco look about a half and hour to finish. The test was possibly one of the most eclectic things ever. The first two pages were philosophical questions, the next two were general Dark Arts knowledge and scenarios, and the last page was an all-about-me page. Draco nearly snorted when he got to the last question '_Which do you prefer chocolate or vanilla?'_

The bell rang. And Ash said, "If you didn't finish your test that's okay. Tomorrow we will have double lessons incase you were wondering what Dark Art lab was. My name is Ash, so don't call me professor. It makes me sound old. Have a good day."

Draco knocked over his books so he'd have to linger and pick them up. Several students seemed to have the same intention. Ash smirked after about five minutes when the classroom was empty.

"Draco you can stop pretending to pick up your books now."

Draco straightened up. Ash looked at him coolly "How'd I do?"

"I thought they were all going to die of fear. Professor."

Ash shuddered; the bell rang again signaling the beginning of second lesson. "I'm not writing you an excuse."

"I want to know what possessed you to become a teacher." Draco sat down. "Mother will be so upset that her shopping partner decided to get a job."

Ash smirked. "Yes I suppose she will. As to what possessed me? I'm bored I suppose."

"Liar."

Ash sighed. "Someday very soon Draco you will know." She paused and took Draco's test out. "You forgot to sign."

Draco frowned, "I thought you signed for me?" Ash shook her head and handed him a quill.

Draco signed looking at Ash. "Ouch!" he cried suddenly, a drop of blood fell on the white paper.

"What happened? Are you all right?" Ash asked looking at his hand. Draco nodded, and Ash's face hardened.

"Draco Malfoy, you are 15 minutes late to transfiguration!" Draco gave her a reproachful look, and set off. As he stepped out the door he caught Ash's mysterious and satisfied smile.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 5: Oversight

Everything struck him as exceptionally funny. Draco was giggling in an uncontrollable way. He looked at the stone wall in front of him and he imagined himself sitting in a hundred different dimensions. A black robed figure was half carrying him towards an imposing heavy door. The figure reminded him a big bat, and he began laughing hysterically again. A clock was ticking, sounding more like a cannon than a few hundred year old tome of wood. The bat gave him a slight shove into the room and his eyes welled with tears as he banged his knee against the door.  
"Quidditch that hurt..." Draco moaned softly. Where was he? The last thing he remembered was eating some sweets and drinking, it was Halloween after all. Slytherin always threw a bash. He looked around, everything was so sharp, it looked vaguely familiar. He smiled up at the portraits of professors gone mad, they seemed to strike a ringing noise.  
"No ringing...make it stop." He said weakly.  
"Draco...so pleased you could join us." A pair of half moon spectacles danced before him. Draco halted. Dumbledore? Oh so things really had gotten that bad…

He laughed wildly, "Bubblesave!"  
The professor's eyebrows arched slightly. "So pleased..." Dumbledore gently took his elbow and led him to a chair. Draco sat down reluctantly and his eyes darted around the room, nothing made sense. He couldn't focus on one object long enough; he blinked constantly, to try to focus. Finally he noticed Professor Snape sitting to his left staring impassively at a portrait. He moved his gaze slowly to the right and nearly jumped back as he saw three of Harry Potter. Three? That's just cruel! Mudblood Granger was sitting besides him and Ron Weasley. He chuckled, they made such a threesome. He turned to Hermione she was crossing and uncrossing her legs, as if uncomfortable with his unrestrained gaze. He smirked at her. How had he not noticed she had such nice long legs?  
"Why is he here?" Harry said throwing Draco a scathing glance. "What does any of this have to do with a pathetic excuse for a human being?"  
Draco was too nauseous to care what Harry Potter was blithering on about, he clutched his stomach, "Who's wearing rose perfume? It's making me sick." A pretty little flush crept up on Hermione's face, Draco giggled, thinking it was cute.  
"Sniveling little cockroach." Harry hissed under his breath.  
"He's here Harry," Dumbledore chided lightly, "Because everything is dependant on him."  
"How could this have anything to do with Malfoy?" Ron asked incredulously.  
Draco pointed at him and said, "Too much chocywockydoda. The fish has to leave!"  
Ron's eyes widened, he grinned broadly, "Alright Malfoy now I'm very afraid."  
Harry shot Draco a disgruntled look, and Hermione watched curiously. Draco burst out laughing.  
"Professor Snape had leather trousers! Why do you hire such odd teachers Professor Doublebore?"  
"Draco. You sound insane." Snape snapped commandingly. The trio was shaking with silent laughter. Draco let out a huge fake sigh, he had the desire to shove his shoe down Snape's mouth. He meet Professor Dumbledore's twinkling blue eyes, they were watching him intently. He shivered.  
"You are no doubt wondering why you're here." Draco rolled his eyes and the Gryffindores nodded in unison. Draco sneered, how quaint, they could have a troupe, 'So noble you want to puke.'  
Absentmindedly he snorted. A sharp "Draco" lulled his dazed eyes to Snape.  
"Yes?" he asked pleasantly, he closed his drooping eyes. The ringing noise in his ear was growing louder and louder, everything in the room was spinning. It looked like a huge wavering mirage.  
"Thank you Severus." Dumbledore said smiling, his eyes sparkled. "Draco we that is Professor Snape and I were just flipping through your records and we found-"  
Draco grinned idiotically, "My golden snitch boxers!"  
There was a pregnant pause, through which Harry cleared his throat twice, Hermione snorted, and Ron's eyes widened larger than the eccentricity of Jupiter.  
"You have Golden snitch boxers...?" Hermione said, trying not to laugh.  
"Maybe, maybe not, perhaps you'd want to find out?" Draco said innocently.  
"How nice of you to take this time to humiliate yourself in public, Malfoy." Harry said cheerfully.

Draco looked at him and burst out laughing. "Say Potter, that was pretty funny!"  
"Draco! Enough! I'll write to your father if you continue-" Professor Snape stopped dead as Draco clutched his stomach and went deathly pale. He leaned over in a split second.  
"Bllargh..." Draco groaned as he threw up on Professor Snape. Snape's eyes looked like coins, he muttered a few incoherent syllables. Draco blinked staring at his professor with a child like innocence. Snape was furious and thankfully too shocked to speak. Dumbledore smiled warmly, he was highly amused at his potions professor's expense.  
"Actually Draco," He said, eyeing the blonde youth who had obviously been playing with some illicit substance, "I found this."  
He handed Draco a piece of white paper. Draco slowly read the title feeling instantly sober. It was a project order from Memta with his signature. Draco wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, muttering a charm to fix any damage he'd caused. His sharp eyes narrowed coldly as he handed the paper back to Dumbledore.  
"Is this supposed to be some kind of joke? This was most certainly not part of my records."  
"Quite right Draco it wasn't." Dumbledore said cheerfully as a shadow moved from near the door.  
Draco uncomfortably felt everyone's eyes on him, "So how did..."  
"I gave it to him." Ash walked in, smirking. Professor Snape muttered a quick incantation, clearing any traces of vomit off his pitch black robes. Ash smiled sarcastically at him and nodded at Dumbledore. "Good morning gentlemen."  
They nodded in acknowledgement, but her eye traveled to Draco's, watching his already white pallor become alarmingly pale.  
"Good Morning Draco."  
"You bitch." He snarled and quickly tried to cover it up with a dazed laugh. It was no use- Dumbledore knew he was cold sober.  
"Draco." He began firmly, "You can't distract attention away from these illegal documents with your signature on them by disrespecting your elders."  
"You think I don't know that?" He spat. He turned standing to Ash, "Do you have any idea what you've done?"  
Ash waited for him to calm down. "Sit down Draco." She snapped coldly. "Of course I do." She took the seat across from him, and waited for him to look up.  
"You should know better than to question my judgment Draco." She said calmly reminding Draco he was a child and she was the adult.  
"And you should know better than to blab to people like him! Some mudblood lover and some dead bloodtraitor convict who didn't even love you back." He hissed maliciously, hitting her where he knew it hurt.  
Sure enough anger rose in Ash's eyes. "Never." She Draco hard enough to jerk his head to the side. "Will you." slap. "Speak of my grandfather like that." slap. "Again." When her outburst had finished, silence greeted her.  
"Dumbledore's your grand...grand...f.ff.ather?" Ron stutered in surprise.  
"This is completely ridiculous." Draco said holding his cheek. "The other directors will never approve, my team sure as hell won't stand for it."  
"Draco, my little darling godson, you're making a scene." Ash said mockingly.  
"I'm making a scene? Don't make me laugh." Draco spoke saractically. "My you have certainly gotten ahead though haven't you."  
"Draco Malfoy, you are signing your own dismissal papers." Ash said simply standing up, "I have the right to assign you to a project as much as I have the right to abject you of your Memta responsibilities. I'm sure you catch my meaning?"  
Draco swallowed and said nothing. Snape was impassively staring at the wall again. The trio stared at Draco in stunned silence, he was completely speechless. Dumbledore was the first to speak, "Do you know what it is we wish of you Draco?"  
Draco snorted, "You want me to bring back that good for nothing git— Sirius Black." At this Harry broke out of his trance, what had caught his attention Draco neither knew nor cared.  
"Bring back Sirius?" He whispered, Draco felt like throwing something heavy and sharp at him. Ash thoughtfully watched him, she nodded, "That's the general idea."  
"Well don't let me squash your hopes Potty, it's not happening anytime soon."  
"Unless I force you?" Ash sighed. "I was hoping truly I was that it wouldn't come to this. After all you are my godson." She pulled out her wand, Draco eyed it sharply and watched her defiantly with a tiny glint of apprehension. "Crucio."  
Draco reacted as quickly as a humming bird flitted. He threw himself on the ground, missing the curse by a lucky break. The curse had blown the top part of the chair off, where his head had been moments before.  
"Some godmother you are."  
Ash didn't seem to put off that a barely 16 year old boy had managed to avoid an unforgivable.  
"Just say yes Draco, and make our lives easier."  
"NO!" He said angrily, "Your grandaughter's a freak!"  
Dumbledore smiled, "I know."  
"Granpere!" Ash broke out of her focus to stare at him in shock.  
"Only is the best and brightest sense my dear." He smiled gently at her. Ash seemed content with that, she returned to Draco who was sitting cross legged on the floor. She nearly laughed he was watching her with the same rebellious glare that he reserved for his parents, his silky fine hair was tousled and two red patchs had appeared on his cheek giving him a feverish look.  
"Well?"  
"No."  
"Why not?"  
"It's unethical! You can't make me, besides a project like this needs trust and understanding, right now I'm feeling hatred."  
Ash kneeled besides him and leaned forward whispering so only he could hear, "But you don't hate anyone."  
Draco stood up "You can't make me." He repeated mutinously.  
"Yes I can and I will since you leave me no choice." She sighed. "How?" He challenged her, feeling a bit of fear in his stomach.  
"You signed in blood Draco." She said softly.  
"Wh..what do you mean? No I didn't, I never signed that paper." Draco said coldly.  
"Yes you did remember after your first class with me? You signed it then. You thought you were signing your test. Silly boy, haven't I taught you better? You cut yourself on the quill, the drop of blood fell on your signature. You signed in blood."  
Draco felt suddenly very sick again. Ash watched him closely. "If you refuse to do the project-"  
"Then I die. How could you do this to me?" Draco said, his shoulders drooped. His eyes wandered the room. Harry and Ron gave him vacant looks. Hermione seemed to be surprised. Dumbledore and Snape shared the same impassive faces. His head began to pound.  
"How is this different from something your father would do?" Ash asked him so only he could hear.  
He steadily glanced her, "You're not my father." He bowed his head, so she couldn't see how her words had hit him. But she knew.  
"Temporary Memta headquaters have been placed in the 3rd floor corridor..."  
Draco closed his eyes, he heard no more.


End file.
